Friday, April 23, 2010

When I saw that Ray Barry was going to appear as Raylan's father, to say I was enthused would be an understatement. But then I saw that Brent Sexton ("Life") was in the episode. And then I saw that it was directed by Jon Avnet (FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, THE WAR). The reality is just as good as the expectation. We learn more about Raylan in this one episode than in the previous four combined. I am very close to being all in with this drama about...well...it's about expectations, in some ways, but that's not all. Oh, just watch the episode and we'll talk about it later.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Raylan is assigned to track a fugitive who turns up in LA, but there are drug runners just as intent to get at him first. Alan Ruck guest stars. You may not know him by name, but Ruck shows up in stuff I watch all the time: Ferris Bueller, Speed, Star Trek 7, Spin City; And here he gets a nice torture scene!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Well, the first three episodes of JUSTIFIED have become available on Hulu, and are embedded below. So far, it's not exactly what I expected, especially since I perceive this series as taking THE SHIELD's spot in the FX lineup, and since I know what could've been. It's more episodic in nature, and tends to focus more on the criminals than on our main character, Raylan Givens. This has painted a colorful world, but disconnected us from getting more involved with Givens, which is what will keep us coming back. I am encouraged that episode 5 will feature Raymond Barry as Givens' father, and have faith that we're not done with Walton Goggins' character from the pilot. Check here for new episodes every Friday.

Episode 1: Fire in the Hole - Raylan is exiled back to his hometown because of a "justified" shooting.

Episode 2: Riverbrook - Raylan tracks down a convict bluegrass band.

Episode 3: Fixer - Raylan is forced to meet with a troublesome informant, which leads to double- and triple-crossing.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Well, I've finally managed to get some of the introductions for the film noir series uploaded to YouTube. (Thanks, Hungry Detective!) So now I can share them with you. I'll roll them out over the next few weeks, in the order they happened. Tell me how you like them. Or if you don't. It's okay. There's not much I can do about them now.

We started off the series with WHITE HEAT (1949). Here's how it looked: